Hurricane Helene expected to be a ‘manageable event’ for Florida insurers

Hurricane Helene is shaping up to be a historic Florida storm, with the potential to make landfall near Tallahassee as a Category 4.

But for Florida’s insurance market, losses are expected to be modest — and nowhere near 2022′s Hurricane Ian or 2018′s Hurricane Michael.

For the state’s homeowners insurance companies, the storm is expected to be “a manageable event,” said Mark Friedlander, spokesperson for the industry-backed Insurance Information Institute.

“This looks like it will not be a large loss event for Florida insurers,” he said.

There’s one simple reason why: Helene is hitting one of the least-populated parts of the state.

On Wednesday, the global reinsurance broker Gallagher Re estimated private insurers’ losses at between $3 billion to $6 billion. That includes companies covering policies in Georgia, the Carolinas, Tennessee and southern Appalachia, which could see tropical storm force winds as the storm dissipates into the interior, the company noted.

Those figures would put Helene well below what Florida insurers alone saw in past storms, according to state regulators.

Hurricane Ian’s strike on Southwest Florida has caused insurers $21 billion in losses so far. Michael, a Category 5 when it hit a more populous part of the Panhandle, caused $9 billion in losses.

Hurricane Irma in 2017 was a Category 3 when it made landfall near Marco Island, generating nearly 1 million claims and about $20 billion in losses. The figures include all private insurers, including those that cover automobiles and commercial properties.

Industry observers say Hurricane Helene could be closer to Hurricanes Idalia ($309 million in losses so far) and Debby ($128 million), the two other hurricanes that struck the state’s Big Bend in the last 13 months.

Locke Burt, the CEO of Ormond Beach-based Security First Insurance Co., said he thought Florida insurer losses from Helene would be between $2 billion and $4 billion.

“This is not going to be a major test” of the industry, Burt said. “It’s hitting in a place in Florida where very few people live.”

That’s not to say that Helene won’t be destructive. It’s shaping up to be the worst hurricane to hit Tallahassee in living memory, with potentially 120 mph winds. The state’s capital city, whose metro area has less than 400,000 people, is known for its towering pine and oak trees, which could do serious damage to roofs and generate enormous amounts of flying debris, Gov. Ron DeSantis has warned.

Helene is also churning up massive storm surge in the Panhandle and is flooding streets in Tampa Bay. But flooding is covered by the National Flood Insurance Program or private flood insurers, not homeowners insurance companies.

Losses to the National Flood Insurance Program and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s crop insurance program could together approach nearly $1 billion in losses, Gallagher Re estimated.

Homeowners are encouraged to contact their insurance company immediately if their home has been damaged. Burt said he has a team of adjusters and crews standing by to remove fallen trees from homes and cover roofs with tarps.

Information from the News Service of Florida contributed to this report.

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